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"I hit either a dog or a bear with my car," the driver said during a call to 911.

The driver said he was going about 20 mph when he hit the animal. He said he pulled over to the side of the road and called police.

"I would recommend staying in your vehicle because we did have a bear running around loose earlier," a dispatcher told the motorist.

The driver said the animal headed west toward 48th Street, and the crash did some minor damage to the vehicle.

Arkansas Game and Fish Commission biologist Matthew Melson said if it was the bear that was hit, the driver would have had to be traveling a bit faster to hurt the bear.

"Bears are extremely tough and resilient. It would take a direct large vehicle collision to even injure one," Melson said.

Tranquilizer guns and darts are used by authorities to capture large animals lost in cities so they can be moved back to the wild while asleep.

"This is probably a sub-adult male that has been winged and is looking for new territory, and Springdale just got in its way," Melson said.

While the bears are typically known to be friendly, Melson said they can snap.

"It would have to be a cornered animal or something to that effect. You literally have a better chance of being struck by lightning in the United States as opposed to being attacked by a bear," Melson said.

There were no sightings Thursday. Wildlife officers said not to leave out any domestic animal food in yards or near open windows because that can attract bears.